Brownsville Highway: Backers of shopping center to appeal EIS

On Tuesday, a county official decided to require a thorough environ-mental study for the development of the 38-acre parcel.

By Julie McCormick

Sun Staff

It will be up to the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners to decide how soon the Meadowdale Center can be built on the Brownsville Highway.

The Kitsap County Hearing Examiner Tuesday issued his decision that the promoters of the shopping complex on the Brownsville Highway will be required to write a thorough environmental impact statement for the 38-acre project, rumored to be the future site of a new Wal-Mart.

An EIS would delay the project by many months. Paul Pazooki, a representative of Meadowdale Partners, the investors behind the project, said the decision will be appealed to county commissioners.

The hearing examiner upheld the county's staff decision to require an EIS, in response to an earlier appeal.

Examiner Tim Botkin's decision praised the thorough job proponents had done to minimize the impact of the project. But all that work still isn't enough to let them bypass the EIS, he said.

"It is clear the project as proposed will have probable significant adverse environmental impacts on the subject area," Botkin wrote.

They include:

* Conversion of 70 percent of the 38 acres to impervious surface.

* Removal or disturbance of 425,000 cubic yards of soil, more than 21,000 dump truck loads.

* Traffic flow due to the planned installation of an entrance stoplight opposite Bentley Drive on the east side of the highway.

* Wetland alteration and filling around the headwaters of Steel Creek.

* Cumulative impacts as other properties nearby are expected to be developed in the wake of Meadowdale Center's establishment.

Proponents had argued that their proposed measures to minimize impacts was an effective alternative to an EIS, but Botkin didn't see it that way.

"Although the applicant has admirably attempted to identify and mitigate potential impacts, mitigation is not synonymous with reduction below the level referred to as "significant'," Botkin decided.

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